Deja Vu
by Sardixiis
Summary: The Secretary of State's plane just went down. The words had struck terror into their hearts the first time. Hearing them again was worse than their worst nightmares. It was inconceivable, yet it was happening. The signal from Elizabeth McCord's plane was gone.
1. Chapter 1

**Déjà vu**

 _Author's Note: I bring you my newest story! I must admit I was super excited about this idea because it could turn out absolutely amazing if I got it right. I'm not totally sure I did, and I'm not 100% satisfied with the later stuff, but hopefully it still hits the mark well enough._

* * *

Chapter One

 _"Mr. President, the Secretary of State's plane just went down over the Atlantic."_

Conrad stood frozen in shock and completely dumbfounded. It had to be some sick, twisted version of déjà vu. He couldn't be hearing those words again. Hearing them but certainly not processing them. They were too similar, and it just wasn't possible. He had to be reliving another conversation. One that had started almost identically.

"What did you just say, Russell?"

"The Secretary of State's plane just went down over the Alps, Mr. President."

Not identical, no, but almost sickeningly so.

"Elizabeth's plane?" he asked.

He knew the answer to that. He _knew_. It couldn't be anything else. Yet he had to be sure.

"Yes, Mr. President," Russell returned in resignation.

Conrad didn't need to hear or see anymore. There was no joking in Russell's eyes. Just a deep pain. He buried his head in his hands.

"Dear God, this can't be happening."

"Can't be, but it is."

Russell didn't like it any more than Conrad did, but they both had to face the fact that they could have lost a second Secretary of State. When Conrad finally looked up he was grey faced but clearly prepared to face the situation.

"Tell me Bess is alive."

"We don't know if anyone survived. Not yet. They're working on satellite images now."

"Have they determined a cause?"

"No, sir."

"Then we have a lot of work to do," Conrad began. "Pass the information along to those who need to know. Then get everyone in the situation room and meet me there."

"Yes, sir, Mr. President."

As Russell left the room Conrad closed his eyes for a brief moment. If there was any chance at all that Bess – or any of the others that had been on the plane – was alive then they needed to act fast. Any survivor could easily die from the elements or their injuries if they weren't rescued quickly. He had to think that there were survivors. It was the only way to keep hope. Otherwise all he could think about was whether the crash was another attack. As if that thought wasn't bad enough, there was something worse to consider. Who could possibly replace Elizabeth?

O . o . O . o . O

Blake never ran through the office, but he was running that day. It was drawing attention from all over, though he didn't notice. His mind was buzzing. Nothing else mattered except what he'd just been told. He burst into Matt and Daisy's office with enough of a clamor to startle them both.

"Blake, what…?" Daisy began.

"Dude, who died?" Matt added.

It was about the only reason he could think of that Blake would look like the world was ending. The look on his face was even worse than it had been when he'd read the report about ways the world actually could end. Unfortunately Matt's joke was too spot on, and Blake went even paler.

"The… the plane went down," he stammered.

"What plane?" Daisy demanded.

"Madam Secretary's."

Daisy's mind went blank and she simply stared at Blake. While she couldn't put her feelings into words, Matt did a good job of expressing what she couldn't.

"No. No, that's not possible. You got it all wrong. That was Marsh's plane."

Blake swallowed hard. He was finding the news hard enough to believe and he hadn't been around when the former Secretary's plane had crashed. It had to be so much worse for Matt and Daisy. They'd already experienced this conversation once.

"Yes, it was Marsh's plane, but now it's Secretary McCord's plane."

"Oh my God," Daisy gasped and held her hands over her mouth.

Matt immediately started pacing. He had to do something to get rid of this tension.

"Is the Secretary alive? Are Jay or Nadine alive? What the hell happened?"

"She better be. I sure hope so. And I don't know."

"Then what the hell do you know?"

"That Russell Jackson wants us to start working with the Deputy Secretary to get him up to speed."

"Get him up to speed just in case, right?" Daisy asked.

Blake wrung his hands and struggled to get the words out.

"He didn't… specify."

Which was not in any way reassuring. It was like they were already expecting everyone on board that plane to be dead. Blake wasn't sure any other outcome was possible, but he wanted to hope. He couldn't handle the thought that Elizabeth McCord might be dead.

O . o . O . o . O

The situation room was crowded, and every face was tense. Russell had done a good job getting everyone together so quickly, which was good. The second Secretary of State in the same number of years could be dead. There was a lot they needed to do.

"What do we know?" Conrad asked.

"Not much, sir. The last ping we got puts the plane here," Ephraim replied as he pointed to the terrain map displayed on screen. "Right on the border of France and Switzerland. We're looking at high elevation and rocky terrain. The problem is, we still can't get anything on satellite. The weather there is too bad. The cameras have no visibility."

"The military is having the same problem," General Reeves added. "Rescue choppers can't get anywhere near the crash site. They're reporting a really bad ice storm. It's making conditions hazardous."

"Is there anything we can do to get a view of that crash site?"

Much of the gathered group glanced at each other nervously and either shrugged or shook their heads. Nobody had any ideas that could beat bad weather.

"We could try to send up some military jets. They might be able to get closer, but the visibility wouldn't be much better than what the satellites got."

Conrad sighed and rubbed his temples. If they sent the jets it would risk the pilots' lives for what would likely amount to nothing. They really needed to find out how bad the crash was and if anyone was alive though. It might be worth the risk.

"If the pilots are willing, send them. But make sure they know the risks," he finally said.

General Reeves nodded.

"Yes, sir."

Now that one thing was done they needed to move on to the next.

"Do we have any idea what the cause was? Weather? Mechanical malfunction? Foul play?"

"There weren't any missiles in the air, but that doesn't mean we can rule out foul play," Ephraim told the President. "Still, I would place my bed on weather. We already know it's bad based on our own failed attempts to fly in the area."

"Do we have any recorded data from the plane?"

"Not yet, sir," Ellen replied. "Hopefully we will soon."

Conrad nodded. They needed that information quickly. If it revealed the crash hadn't been a terrible accident it would make a bad situation even worse.

"As soon as we get anything, bring it to me. Ephraim, I want someone sent to talk to Juliet just in case. She was involved in a plot to murder one Secretary of State by plane. I want to make absolutely sure she wasn't involved in another."

"Yes, sir," Ellen and Ephraim replied together.

"Get on it then, everyone."

Conrad stood up, drawing everyone to their feet as well. As he left the situation room he turned to Russell.

"I have a job for you."

"Of course, Mr. President."

"I want you to contact the leaders of all the countries near that crash site that are our allies. The French, the Swiss, the Italians. Everyone. Get someone from Elizabeth's staff to help you if you think one of them can handle it. We need as much aid in this rescue mission as possible, even if it turns into a recovery mission."

They both knew that normally that task would have fallen on Elizabeth. The fact that the President was asking that of Russell only highlighted the fact that she wasn't there.

"Let's hope it doesn't turn into a recovery," Russell responded darkly.

"Agreed."

Elizabeth's death could derail the rest of Conrad's presidency. They were good friends, and her death would be very painful for the President. It would leave far more of a mark on him than Marsh's death had. Her death would leave far more of a mark on their foreign relations than Marsh's had too. That would have serious consequences.

On a much smaller scale, Elizabeth's death would impact Russell too. He'd come to respect her, and maybe even become somewhat fond of working with her. She would be a huge loss, and he did not want to break in another Secretary.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Just because Disah was gone didn't mean Murphy's Station was out of work. There were still high value targets to be found and either captured or taken out. That meant the people of Murphy's Station were still hard at work, though currently going through a backlog of information and a bunch of cold trails.

"Sometimes I think we should ignore all of this really old stuff and start from something newer," Jose grumbled.

"If there were any recent hits that led anywhere we would be," Jane returned.

It was a common conversation between all of them. A little bit of whining broke up the tedium and allowed them all to vent.

"It's the apparently unimportant stuff in the past that's going to help us," Henry added, as he usually did.

They could all quote each other nearly word for word when this conversation came up. Henry didn't even need to look up at them to take part. He continued sifting through the information in front of him without pause until a notification popped up on his computer. An email had just come in. He was tempted to ignore it, but notifications typically didn't come through unless the emails were marked as important. Curious, he clicked away from what he'd been working on – it wasn't like he was finding anything anyway – and pulled up his inbox. Immediately he knew he'd made the right choice.

"Hey, guys. We just got a high level security alert."

Both Jane and Jose paused, looking up at him. They didn't get alerts very often, and those they did get weren't typically relevant to the group.

"About what?" Jane asked.

"Don't know. Hang on."

Henry clicked on the email and started reading. He didn't manage to get very far before he froze and simply stared at the screen. His whole world narrowed down to a few words, a single line in an email. No matter how many times he read it, it still didn't feel real. It couldn't be. His mind simply wouldn't accept the words.

"What does it say?" Jane asked.

Henry had had more than enough time to read the email, but he still wasn't saying a word. He had such a blank expression on his face that it made Jane uneasy. What could have possibly shocked Henry into that state?

"Henry?"

Still she got nothing. Not an answer, not a glance in her direction, not even a twitch. He wasn't even blinking, just sitting there dumbly with his mouth slightly open, staring at the screen. When it was clear that wasn't going to change Jane looked over his shoulder to read the email herself. Her stomach dropped to her feet.

"Oh shit."

"What?" Jose demanded, suddenly concerned.

Jane looked up, the fear in her eyes all too clear.

"His wife's plane just went down."

"His…" It took Jose a moment to process that. "The Secretary's plane crashed?!"

She nodded and looked back at Henry. He still hadn't moved, so she rested her hand on his shoulder to try and draw him out.

"Henry?"

Slowly his eyes pulled away from the screen and turned toward Jane. She didn't think Henry was even seeing her though. He was still blank and staring. Then the switch seemed to flick in his mind. Panic flooded his eyes and he shot to his feet so fast Jane almost didn't have time to step away and avoid being hit.

"I need to…" he began as his eyes darted around the room.

Before either Jane or Jose could step in and try to talk him off the ledge Henry was racing for the door.

"Henry," Jane called out, but Henry didn't stop.

He pulled the door open with such force it slammed into the opposite wall and ricocheted partway back.

"Henry!"

It was no use though. Henry was already gone.

O . o . O . o . O

"You've got something, Ellen?" the President asked.

"Yes, Mr. President. I have the recordings from right before the crash. They should tell us more about what happened to the Secretary's plane."

The President certainly hoped that would be the case. He had gathered his remaining advisors into the oval office immediately after Ellen had told him she had news. Hopefully what she had would help them determine how bad of a situation they were in so they could figure out where to go next.

"Let's see it then."

Ellen nodded and set up the audio. Between the two files that had been sent over and the plane's automated equipment report they should have a better idea of what had happened to the plane right before it had gone down.

"This first communication came in a little over an hour before the crash," she explained before she hit play.

 _"Control, be advised. We have a pretty severe storm system to the south. Hopefully that system doesn't turn. We don't want to be heading into that."_

Ellen stopped that recording and turned toward those gathered.

"That's the last communication we got before this next one. The weather service did confirm that the system they saw shifted. We can assume they flew straight into it based on this next message."

She hit play on the second recording and the panicked voice of Elizabeth's pilot filled the oval office.

 _"Mayday! Mayday! Loss of power in the left engine. Dropping altitude to try and find clearer visibility."_

They could hear the rattling of the plane and the straining engine for a short time. Then the pilot came on again.

 _"Shit!"_

A second after the word faded away the recording cut out. Silence filled the room. Nobody knew how to respond. They'd just heard the last moments before Elizabeth's plane had crashed into the mountainside. It had left a cold feeling seeping through everyone. Eventually Ellen broke the silence, though she spoke in a softer voice than usual. It didn't feel right to completely shatter the silence, especially considering what they were discussing.

"Our engineers believe the ice storm in the area was the likely cause of the crash. A buildup of ice would have caused the power loss in the engine. They're speculating that when they dropped altitude they almost literally ran into the mountain. Either the pilot didn't have time to avoid it or potential ice on the wings made controlling the plane too difficult in the time they had."

"And they literally just… slammed into the mountain," Russell said as he ran a hand over his forehead.

Knowing that the plane hadn't been hijacked was great news, but hearing those recordings and knowing what had happened made the crash so much worse.

"Not a pleasant thought, is it?" Conrad asked.

Everyone looked down at their feet. No, it wasn't a pleasant thought and none of them wanted to think about what it would have been like to see that mountain suddenly looming up in front of them. While none of them really wanted to consider it, the big question did need to be discussed.

"Gordon, what do you think the chances are that anyone could have survived?"

Gordon Becker, the Secretary of Defense, considered the President's question for a moment before shaking his head.

"There would be a lot of factors involved, sir. It would depend on the visibility at the time, the skill of the pilot, how much control of the plane he still had, and the exact terrain they hit. Let's just say that even with a lot of luck on their side there are far more scenarios that lead to no survivors than there are scenarios that have some."

"But there's still a chance."

Gordon was about to answer that yes, there could still be a chance, but he didn't get the opportunity. The door to the oval office burst open without any warning. Every head swung toward the door, and Conrad shot to his feet.

"Henry!"

The President motioned his assistant away, knowing there would be no stopping Henry. He should have guessed that news of the crash would have found its way to Elizabeth's husband. In reality he probably should have told Henry himself, but they had all been focused on getting more information. It looked like he was going to pay for that now.

Henry was a terrifying shade of white, but even worse than his color were his eyes. The frantic panic gleaming right on the surface made him look completely insane. What didn't help with that image was the fact that he had basically forced his way into the President's office. He moved toward Conrad so quickly that it was almost threatening. Had he been anyone else he probably would have been stopped, likely in spectacular fashion. Regardless of who he was, a few of the President's advisors were tempted to step between Henry and their Commander in Chief anyway.

"What the hell happened?" Henry raged as he continued forward.

The outburst drew Gordon to his feet and one stop closer to the President. Henry was oblivious to everyone else in the room and kept on coming. Tensions racketed up even higher until Conrad waved Gordon back. The Secretary of Defense hesitated for a moment before returning to his seat. By that point Henry was nearly toe to toe with the President and positively fuming.

"Did you get my wife killed?"

Conrad faced Henry calmly before addressing the rest of the people in the room.

"Give us a moment."

There was complete silence except for the rustle of clothing as Ephraim, Ellen, and Gordon filed out. Russell, as usual, stayed put.

"Who the hell do you think you're talking to, Henry?" Russell demanded once everyone else had left.

Henry rounded on Russell, fully intending on telling him that he knew exactly who he was talking to, when the President's hand landed on his shoulder.

"It's alright, Russell. Henry is just as worried about Bess as we are. More so, I suspect."

"That doesn't give him the right…"

"No, but it does give him a pass this once."

Russell's body language made it clear that he didn't agree, but he wasn't going to argue with the President. Conrad nodded to him and turned back to Henry. There was a lot to explain. He had to do whatever he could to calm Henry down, if that was even possible. If he'd just figured out his wife had been in a plane crash he would have been throttling answers out of someone. Henry was at least refraining himself from that, though his clenched fists made Conrad think it was a near thing.

"At this point evidence seems to indicate that Elizabeth's plane went down due to bad weather. That same weather system is making it impossible to get a clear view of the wreck. We have no idea if anyone survived."

Henry's breath caught and getting in any more air became next to impossible. Elizabeth was probably dead. The entire oval office tilted as Henry's mind short circuited.

It wasn't just an imagined tilt. Conrad and Russell had to grab onto him to keep him from falling.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

There was always a ruckus in the hallways between classes at Monroe Junior High. It was all basically background for Jason as he and his friends headed down the hall to their next class.

"You should totally come out to my house tonight. We could have an entire Call of Duty marathon."

Jason rolled his eyes at his friend.

"You do realize it's a school night, right? There is no way my parents would let me go."

"So say it's for a group project. Be creative, man."

"Did you forget who my parents are? They wouldn't buy that for a second. Not even my dad."

And they wouldn't. His parents could always tell when he was lying or being creative to get out of something. Plus, they were constantly on him about getting his homework done. There was no way they would let him hang out at a friend's house basically indefinitely if he didn't have everything done. They probably wouldn't even let him do that if he did have all of his work finished.

Just then his phone dinged, and he immediately pulled it out of his pocket.

"Ohhh. That was a quick response! You have a girlfriend, Jason?"

"He totally has a girlfriend. Better respond to her quick before she comes after you, Jason."

For the second time in such a short period Jason rolled his eyes at his friend.

"No, dude. I have CNN notifications set up on my phone. Something big must be going on in the world."

He pulled up the notification and couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Shit. No way. Just no way. It can't be…" he muttered as he scanned through the main part of the article in hopes of proving himself wrong.

Jason had stopped dead in the middle of the hallway, which forced his friends to stop with him. They were causing a major traffic jam but none of them seemed to notice.

"What? Dude, what is it?"

If Jason's friends were expecting to get an answer out of him they were wrong. Jason's face took on a terrified, frantic expression, and he pushed away from them.

"I've got to go."

With that he raced away down the hall, completely ignoring the shouts echoing after him. Jason knew he would be in trouble for running in the hall if one of the teachers caught him and he'd be in even more trouble for being on his phone, but at the moment he didn't care. The situation necessitated these things. His teachers should understand, and if they didn't then he would take the punishment.

The first call he made was to his mother's cell. He hadn't truly been expecting it to go through, but hearing that voicemail message dropped the bottom out of his stomach. When he got the same from his dad's phone it was nearly too much. He had very few options left, but he knew there was no way he could just wait around for someone to finally decide to pick up their phone or give him answers. He was going to find those answers himself. There was no way he was staying out of the loop on this one.

Desperate times and all that.

So he made a call he'd never made before.

 _"Jason?"_

Blake sounded confused when he spoke Jason's name, but underneath that confusion Jason could hear tension. His mother's assistant was clearly stressed out about something. That was enough confirmation for Jason that he didn't even bother asking if CNN's report was true.

"I know what happened. You need to tell me right now with certainty that Mom is alive and okay and explain why she isn't answering her phone. If you can't do that then you better send a car to Monroe Jr. High so I can go get Ali at Westmore."

 _"Jason…"_

"Seriously not kidding, Blake."

And he wasn't. If Blake didn't send a car and Jason had to come up with another way to get to Alison Blake would regret it. Jason would make sure that his life was a living hell from that point onward.

 _"Alright. Alright, Jason. I'll get a car sent over now. Just don't… do anything your mom wouldn't approve of."_

Jason got the feeling that Blake had initially been planning to tell him not to do anything stupid before he opted for a different phrase. It didn't really matter either way though. Jason was pretty sure everything he was planning would fit in both the "stupid" category and the "Mom wouldn't approve" category. Given the fact that there was a chance his mother wasn't even around anymore Jason wasn't even remotely concerned about the consequences of his actions. He simply hung up and headed for the office. It turned out he would be using some of his friend's advice that day after all. If he wanted to escape he was going to have to spin a pretty good story to be able to leave school without a parent signing him out. Pulling the "security purposes" card would have to be enough.

O . o . O . o . O

When the car pulled up outside of Westmore Prep Jason hurtled out of the backseat and sprinted toward the entrance. He hadn't been back to the school since he'd been expelled, but he figured it wouldn't matter that much since he wasn't going to stick around for long. All he had to do was get Alison and get out. There was no way he would let anyone stand in his way. The fastest way to get to Alison was to go straight to Dean Ward. He had no idea what class his sister was in, and tracking her down himself would take too long. Thankfully the halls were empty, so he was able to run to the Principal's office unimpeded.

Dean Ward's head shot up as Jason catapulted into her office, but Jason didn't give her a chance to even start a lecture or complain about the fact that he'd been thrown out of Westmore.

"What class is Alison in?"

"That's not something you just storm in here and demand, Mr. McCord. You shouldn't even be in this building at all."

Jason's nerves were pulled so tight that he didn't have any patience or emotional control to spare. He all but blew up at the principal.

"I don't have time for this! Just tell me where my sister is before I go find her myself and disrupt all the classes while I'm doing it."

"Jason! An outburst like that is completely unacceptable! What on earth is going on?"

"My mom's plane just crashed."

Dean Ward went still. She hadn't thought any reason would be good enough for her to give in to Jason's demands, especially after the way he'd spoken to her. Apparently she'd thought wrong. She turned away from him and pulled Alison's schedule up on the computer.

"She's in English. Mr. Rafferty's room."

She caught a brief flash of relief and gratitude on Jason's face before he sprinted from the room.

Jason knew exactly how to get to Alison's classroom thanks to his previous time at Westmore. What he didn't know was how he was going to explain everything to his sister. He needed to get her to come with him without argument, but he also didn't want to terrify her. If felt like an impossible task, and he was running out of time to figure it out.

The door to Mr. Rafferty's classroom was closed, but Jason simply flung it open and burst into the room. Every head swiveled toward him, which made it really easy to find Alison. She was sitting there staring at him with an open mouth.

"Grab your stuff and let's go. Right now."

Jason's demand snapped the entire class out of their shock. Whispers erupted throughout the room, and Alison shot to her feet.

"What are you talking about? What are you even doing here? You were expelled!"

And he was seriously embarrassing her. She did not need her little brother showing up at her school and wreaking havoc. That was exactly what he was doing though. Big time. She was going to kill him.

"Alison, do you need to take a moment to talk to your brother?" Mr. Rafferty asked.

She turned toward him and was about to respond "no" when Jason cut in.

"Mom's plane went down."

All of the anger rushed out of Alison as she turned back to face her brother. Panic immediately began to set in, and words almost completely failed her.

"What?"

"They don't know if anyone survived, but Dad has to know more than the news is reporting. So let's go!"

He'd been expecting Alison to jump to it and follow him out the door. His bluntness should have driven her to action. Instead it looked like his lack of plan had resulted in terrifying his sister. She hadn't moved a single step toward the door, and he could see her shaking.

"That… can't be," she whispered.

Apparently Alison was still trying to process what he had said, but Jason couldn't give her that time. He had to put a stop to Alison's downward spiral, and the best way to do that was not to give her time to think. They needed to go.

"Now, Ali!"

Alison jumped like she'd been electrocuted. In seconds she'd gathered up all of her books and thrown them into her bag. She headed toward Jason as she threw her bag over her shoulder. Even as she followed her brother out she couldn't make sense of what was happening or how it could even _be_ happening. The more she thought about it the larger the empty pit inside her grew. Her mother couldn't be dead. She just couldn't be.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

By the time they were back in the SUV Alison was in tears and shaking harder than ever. Jason slid an arm around her to try and offer some form of comfort. The best thing he could do though was to get them to their dad as soon as he could.

"Take us to the White House."

Alison looked at him in surprise, her red-rimmed eyes going wide.

"Why are we going to the White House? Dad doesn't work there."

"Because if Mom's plane really went down then Dad's going to be wherever he can get the most information," Jason explained. "And who can he get the most information from?"

Instead of answering Alison simply stared at him with glassy eyes. Her brain was just not functioning enough to make sense of Jason's thought process. When that became clear to Jason he answered the question himself.

"The President, obviously. So Dad will be where the President is. Trust me."

Alison nodded weakly. She was going to have to trust him on this because she had no idea what to do. He was taking full charge, and she was grateful for that. The car still hadn't moved so Jason turned back to their driver. They needed to get going.

"The White House," he said again as authoritatively as possible.

"I can't do that, son. Access to the White House is strictly regulated."

Fury built up in Jason. With everything his family was currently going through, he wasn't going to let anybody make it harder. Nobody was going to say no to him today.

"Our mom could be dead, so you're damn well going to bring us to our dad. I don't care where he is or who isn't allowed in there. Dad's at the White House, so that's where we're going."

He met the driver's eyes firmly, and the fire burning there got him what he wanted. The driver nodded and headed off. Jason almost breathed a sigh of relief as he settled back into his seat. When he heard Alison sniffle he wrapped an arm around her again. He had to be strong for his sister even if he couldn't be strong for himself.

"Mom's going to be alive. She has to be. Okay?"

Alison took a strangled breath and nodded. Jason couldn't offer her a smile in response, but he did manage a firm nod. They had to stay hopeful. Somehow.

Now that he knew Alison wasn't going to completely fall apart, Jason turned his mind to Stevie. He had no idea how to get to his older sister. While he'd left a message for her, she must not have gotten it because she hadn't called him back. Stevie was just going to have to figure this all out on her own and find a way to meet up with them. They needed to be together as a family.

O . o . O . o . O

It turned out that getting to the White House was the easy part. Actually getting inside was much harder. Security wouldn't let them through and his dad still wasn't answering his phone. That forced Jason to make his second phone call to Blake. Thankfully his mother's assistant solved the problem almost immediately. Some message must have been passed along because they were inside within moments and being led through the halls.

They were ushered into a room and immediately saw their father. Henry was sitting slumped in a chair with his head in his hands. Jason had been right. This was where his father had come, and now that they'd found him Jason didn't need to be strong anymore. He could let his dad take the lead. The fact that Henry didn't look particularly capable of doing that didn't matter. Jason knew his dad was just as human as everyone else in terms of experiencing heavy emotion, but he'd also never seen Henry give in to defeat.

"Dad!" Jason and Alison chorused.

Henry started and looked up. For a moment he stared at them like he didn't even know them, but eventually his brain caught up to what he was seeing.

"Jason. Alison," he began as he stood and gathered them both into his arms. "What are you doing here? You should be at school."

"There was no way we were going to stay at school. Is Mom okay?"

Henry pulled away and stared at his son. Jason was acting like he knew what was going on, but that wasn't possible. Henry certainly hadn't told him, and nobody else would have either. His blank expression gave him away.

"It's all over the news, Dad," Jason explained.

"Please tell me Mom's okay," Alison pleaded.

Henry closed his eyes for a moment and forced himself to be calm and in control for his children. Both of those emotions felt so far away. His wife could be dead or dying at that very moment and there was nothing he could do. Somehow, even living in that reality, he had to try and be strong.

"We don't… know anything yet," he reluctantly admitted in the steadiest voice he could muster.

The reaction was almost immediate, and the tidal wave of his children's emotions nearly took him under. His own emotions were nearly sinking him, yet he somehow had to keep his kids afloat too. Alison burst into tears, and Jason's face twisted with a hard mix of anger and panic that Henry didn't even want to look at.

"So ask the President! He's a friend of yours, right? He has to have answers. Make him tell you."

"The President doesn't know anything either, Jason. He's trying, but nobody can get a good picture."

"Then send someone out there!" Jason roared.

"We're doing that, son," Conrad replied calmly.

It surprised the entire family. None of them had even seen him enter the room.

Henry could barely even look at Conrad. A part of him still irrationally blamed the President for what had happened to Elizabeth and the inability to get to her now. He wanted to turn that anger on the other man, but he held back, knowing as much as he wanted to he couldn't attack the President. In the end it didn't matter. Jason did it for him.

He rushed at the President and nearly managed to grab the lapels of his suit before anyone could react.

"My mom could be dead because of you! Why did you have to pick her?!"

Jason was still screaming when his father caught up to him. Henry managed to wrap his arms around Jason's chest and haul him backward as Russell stepped between them and the President. Personally Henry felt like reacting exactly like Jason had, but he knew he couldn't. Neither could Jason.

"Jason enough!" Henry insisted as he continued fighting against his son.

"I could throw you in jail for that!" Russell growled, fury blazing in his eyes. "Attacking the President! My God, have you lost your mind?"

Jason's persistence was starting to scare Henry. There were certain people in the world that you couldn't mess with no matter how emotional you were. The President of the United States was one of them. This needed to stop now before it got worse. Henry hauled Jason around and almost threw his son against the wall, pinning him there with his forearm.

"Jason!"

There was such a sharp snap in the word that Jason's attention turned fully toward Henry. The anger faded from Jason's eyes and they turned glassy instead. When he started trembling Henry released him.

"Dad…"

The whimper in Jason's voice pierced Henry, and he drew his son close. Jason immediately wrapped his arms around his dad and hid his face against Henry's shoulder.

"It's alright, son. It's going to be alright."

"Dad," Alison whispered.

Henry held one arm out, and Alison joined in the hug. She might not have gone completely off the deep end and attacked the President, but her mother's status was scaring her too. Being close to her dad made it easier; plus she could see that he needed the comfort just as much as they did.

Conrad watched the three McCords hug each other, almost at a loss for words. What was he supposed to say to any of them? The fact that he was trying didn't feel good enough. For everything he was doing Elizabeth's status was still unknown, and they were no closer to bringing her home. He had to come up with some kind of reassurance.

It took a while, but eventually Henry managed to calm his children down. Neither of them were doing very well, but Henry couldn't blame them. He wasn't doing very well himself. Without Elizabeth with him he was off balance, and it was so hard to keep himself from tipping over completely. He squeezed Jason and Alison's shoulders and offered them a vague semblance of a smile. Neither of them were reassured, but their red-rimmed eyes remained dry.

"Alison. Jason," Conrad stated, drawing their attention to him.

Both kids remained silent, though Henry could tell that Jason didn't really want to listen. He rubbed Jason's shoulders and focused his attention on the President as well.

"Your mother is a strong and resourceful woman. Better than anyone I have ever met. We have to trust that if she survived the first impact she'll find a way to hold on until we can get to her, and I promise you that we will get to her."

"And what if Mom's already dead?" Jason demanded.

"Then the world will have lost an amazing woman, and we will all be worse off for it. If Elizabeth really is gone, we will make sure she is never forgotten."

Jason's jaw tightened. That was not a good enough answer for him, but he didn't get the chance to press further because the President redirected the conversation.

"Henry, you should get Stevie here. Your family should be as together as it can be right now. This room is yours. If there's anything you need, just ask."

There was only one thing Henry needed, and he made it know right away.

"I need my wife back, Conrad."

"I know, and we are working as hard as we can to make that happen. You'll get word as soon as we learn something new."

Henry nodded and pulled his kids closer. He needed news soon. The longer he went without it the more he thought Elizabeth was dead, and it was a terrible, terrible feeling.


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Note: Happy birthday to me. I figured since you've all had such amazing responses to this story so far uploading a new chapter today would give me some great birthday happiness when I read your reviews, though ironically this is the chapter where I start to lose confidence in the story. I got about halfway through writing it when life got in the way and I had to put it down for a while. I've always found it very hard to get back into a story when I've stopped partway though, and even by the end of this one I'm still not sure I got it back. Hopefully it still holds up to previous standards._

* * *

Chapter Five

Nadine's ears were ringing. She felt disoriented and battered, though not terribly so. Worst of all she was cold. Very cold. That made some sort of sense, she supposed, since she was pretty sure there was snow in the plane. Or at least what was left of it. Nadine stared around at the wreckage in numbed shock for a moment before she heard a pained moan to her right. She pushed herself slowly to her feet and stumbled through the mess of snow, torn metal, and interior debris. Jay was buried under a pile of rubble and clearly trapped.

"Jay."

His eyes flicked toward her as he tried once again to get the plane's chairs off of him.

"Nadine. Get me out. I can't breathe."

"R-right."

She got to work trying to lever the chairs away from Jay without hurting him worse. It turned out they weren't all that heavy. Once she got them untangled they were easy to move. When she dragged the last one off him she saw how bad he looked. He was pale and struggling to catch his breath. As Nadine looked him over she realized everything he was experiencing was likely a result of a broken arm. His left one was bent in a place it definitely shouldn't be.

Jay tried to get up but moaned and nearly fell back. Nadine pushed him back down very gently.

"Stay still. You're hurt."

He was panting and sweating despite the cold, but he wasn't about to give up.

"Where's the Secretary?"

Nadine stilled. That was a very good question. One she didn't have an answer to.

"I'll find her. Just stay put."

Wandering through the remains of the plane was surreal. She couldn't even recognize that it was their plane. There was so much damage to take in.

She found what she was looking for in the back of the plane along with one of the Secretary's security detail. Finding the Secretary should have been reassuring, but it wasn't. Elizabeth was sprawled on the floor and looked like she could be dead. Her eyes were closed, she wasn't moving, and the right side of her head was covered in blood.

"Mike, is she alive?"

Elizabeth's remaining security agent glanced over, his expression worried.

"Alive, yes, but she's hurt. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Jay's arm is broken, but he should be okay."

"Stay with her. Don't move her head, but see if you can wake her up. I'm going to go check on everyone else."

Nadine nodded and knelt at Elizabeth's side. Now that she was closer she could see that all of the blood was coming from a deep gash in the side of Elizabeth's head. Whatever had caused the cut had sliced through pretty deep. Hopefully Elizabeth would still wake despite the injury. Nadine gently shook the Secretary's shoulder and started calling to her.

"Ma'am? Can you hear me? You need to wake up. Come on, Elizabeth. It's time to wake up."

For a long time she got no response, and then Elizabeth's eyelids flickered. Slowly blue eyes opened and settled on Nadine, though they weren't very focused.

"Ma'am?"

"Nadine? Wha' happened?"

The words were slurred enough that it concerned Nadine, but all she could do was make a mental note of it. When Mike came back she would mention it to him. Hopefully it wouldn't be something they actually needed to worry about.

"I don't really know," Nadine admitted. "The pilot must not have been able to avoid the mountain."

Shortly after the pilot had warned them that they were making an emergency decent, Nadine had spotted the mountain looming up outside the window. Only a few moments after that everything had gone to hell. Just thinking about the experience made Nadine shudder, and she quickly shoved the memories away.

"Pilot… the plane crashed…"

Elizabeth was clearly struggling to make sense of what had happened. If Nadine had had a clear understanding of what had actually happened, she would have been more concerned about Elizabeth's uncertainty. As it was, everyone was confused and still reeling.

Mike returned with Jay and one of the flight attendants in tow. The sight of only three made Nadine's stomach sink. They had started out with a flight crew of four and three members of the security detail. Only one of each group had survived. At least five of them had made it, and it was good to see Jay on his feet. He was clearly in pain, but at least he was standing.

"Are you alright, Ma'am?" Jay asked.

"Cold…" Elizabeth murmured.

Jay agreed with that. It was very cold and only going to get colder. At least there was one easy solution to that. Easy in theory at least. The reality was nothing appeared to be in the same spot it had been in when they'd been in the air.

"We have to find our coats."

"We'll handle that," Mike replied. "Someone needs to stay with the Secretary and keep her awake. Since you need to take it easy, that's your job. I'll handle the coats. Nadine, go with Chris. She thinks she can find a first aid kit. Pick up any paper on your way."

"Paper?" Nadine asked.

"Paper. Any kind you can find. We're going to need the insulation."

Nadine still wasn't sure she understood, but she'd look for the paper anyway. Mike apparently had a plan. She was out of her depth in this situation, so she would happily follow any plan he had.

They all set off in different directions as Jay settled himself next to Elizabeth. Immediately he knew he had to try and stop the bleeding, at least temporarily. He didn't have a lot of options, so he pulled his tie off and used that to attempt to stem the flow of blood. Instead of flinching from the pressure like Jay had been expecting, Elizabeth barely reacted.

"Ma'am? Elizabeth?"

Her eyes fluttered. They only got partway open, making Jay realize she wasn't going to be able to stay awake without help. He was going to have to keep her engaged somehow.

"Talk to me, Ma'am. Tell me what you remember. Maybe we can figure out what happened."

"Mm… don't know…"

"You have to remember something," Jay pressed.

Elizabeth mumbled something unintelligible, and her eyes slid further closed. Jay gently shook her shoulder and called out to her. It seemed to do the trick.

"Jay…?"

"What is it, Ma'am?"

"I'z cold."

"I know, Ma'am. Mike is trying to find our coats."

"Cold…"

She was slipping again, and Jay was beginning to wonder how much she was understanding. Concussion came to mind. She knew who he was, which was good. However, he was seeing far more evidence of having a concussion than not. A thread of unease ran through Jay at the thought. Concussions had the potential to be serious. Out here, with no help nearby, serious injuries were especially bad. If Elizabeth had a serious concussion… well, Jay really didn't want to think about what would happen.

"We're going to get you warm soon, alright?"

He hoped that was true at least. She wasn't the only one who was freezing. He was starting to shiver so hard the movement was sending zings of pain through his arm.

"'Kay…"

Something about the way she said it made Jay feel like she was being too obedient. Elizabeth had a reputation for being fiery, but that was definitely not what he was seeing now. When she shifted and leaned her head against his thigh it solidified Jay's concern. She wasn't herself. Not at all. With no other options, he shifted closer to her since it would help keep them both warm.

Nadine and Chris eventually came back with a stack of paper and the first aid kit. As Jay looked at what they had he realized some of it was classified documents and State Department reports.

"We aren't going to try and get work done, are we?" Jay moaned.

Personally he thought that after everything they'd just gone through they deserved to skip work for a little bit. They were trapped on a mountain in the middle of Europe with no idea if they would survive. Work just wasn't important.

"No. Mike wanted us to gather up paper," Nadine explained. "But this stuff was about all we could find."

"Oh. Right. Right."

Apparently Elizabeth wasn't the only one who was a little bit out of it if he hadn't even remembered that.

"Those reports are going to keep us warm," Mike said as he returned, covered in snow.

"Keep us warm?" Jay asked.

"Stuff it in your coat and it will add more insulation."

He dropped one pile of coats down next to them and held a few more under his other arm. The extra coats were the reason he was snow covered. The front part of the plane had separated during the crash and the pilots had been killed. They didn't need their coats anymore. The survivors did, even if those coats were a bit blood stained.

"How's the Secretary?"

"This cut is pretty deep," Chris explained as she worked on bandaging it.

"How out of it is she?"

"Right now? Out of it."

"And before?" Mike asked as he turned toward Jay.

Jay went to shrug and stopped himself just in time. Shrugging would not be good.

"In and out. She was making sense for the most part, but there wasn't much in what she was saying. Not a lot of thought. A lot of repetition."

Mike frowned. When he'd first seen the cut on Elizabeth's forehead he'd been worried about a head injury. Now it was sounding like that was what they were facing. It brought their situation to a whole new level of serious.

It was Mike's job to protect the Secretary and keep her safe, but in this instance there was almost nothing he could do. If the head injury was serious enough it could kill her whether he kept her warm enough to survive or not. Elizabeth's life was nearly out of his hands. It was not a very good feeling.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

The pings of ice on the body of the plane were slowly letting up, which brought hope to those within. Unfortunately the temperature wasn't rising as the storm lessened. Instead it was dropping as the sun slowly set. They'd been trapped on the mountain for hours, and everyone was huddled together as closely as possible to try and stay warm.

Jay shifted slightly and tried to pull his hands further into the folds on his coat. Already he could barely feel his fingers. It should have worried him, but he had bigger things on his mind. Elizabeth still rested up against him and hadn't moved. She'd been in and out a few times after they'd wrapped her in a coat, but it was clear each time that she wasn't totally there. Jay didn't know which was scarier, when she was awake or asleep.

"Jay?" Nadine prodded. "Are you alright?"

He was trapped on a mountainside, injured, utterly freezing, and perhaps never to see his family again. The last thought was one he was purposefully trying to ignore, but even so, how was Nadine expecting him to answer that question? By taking the situation into account of course.

"Yeah. Just… watching the Secretary."

Nadine glanced down at Elizabeth and sighed. She was still shivering despite everything they were doing to try and keep her warm. At least she was warm enough to keep shivering, but that wasn't much consolation. Just as Nadine thought that, Jay reached over and pulled her a bit closer to him. It got very little response out of her.

"She's always such a force, you know?" Jay mused. "Not all powerful, but she feels…"

"All powerful?" Nadine offered as she turned her eyes back to him.

"Yeah," he sighed.

It was the best way he could come up with to describe her too even if it wasn't totally accurate.

"It makes it hard to see her like this."

Nadine nodded and looked back down at Elizabeth. She never saw the Secretary look anything close to weak, but today that was all she was. Jay was right in the fact that it was unsettling. This just wasn't Elizabeth.

"Do you think we're going to get out of this?"

There was fear in Jay's eyes. It was well hidden, but Nadine could still see it there. Seeing it brought out the fear in her as well, but she pushed it down. Fear wouldn't help them.

"I hope so, Jay. We have to trust that someone is coming for us, and we can't give up."

"I have a baby at home, Nadine. If we don't…"

He choked on the last few words.

"Jay, look at me," Nadine demanded.

Slowly Jay's eyes lifted to hers. They were filled with tears, though none had escaped yet.

"You can't think like that. Do you hear me?"

Jay nodded and took a deep, shuddering breath.

"Right. Right. I'm going to see her again. I will."

"That's it. Don't lose hope."

Losing hope would be a death sentence. They had to focus on the reasons they had to stay alive so they wouldn't give up. Somehow they had to try and keep Elizabeth alive too because if she died Nadine wasn't sure if any of them would be able to keep fighting.

O . o . O . o . O

"Mom's still fighting, guys. You know she is. She's Mom."

Stevie's reassurances were falling on mostly deaf ears. When Stevie had shown up Henry had left the room. While he hadn't said anything, Stevie knew he'd escaped because he was at the point of breaking down and couldn't let himself do it in front of Alison and Jason. That was alright with Stevie. She would try to be the strong one for her siblings for a while.

"Come on. We have to believe she's alive."

"Yeah, for how much longer?" Jason grumbled.

"They still haven't sent anyone to rescue her yet," Alison sobbed.

She hadn't stopped crying since Stevie had arrived, and it didn't look like she would stop any time soon. That wouldn't stop Stevie from trying to reassure her though. Unfortunately they were both right. Without a rescue there was no way any survivors would last much longer.

"I'm sure they have people waiting to go to them the minute they can."

"How long will that be?"

Jason's response was so bitter it drew Stevie's full attention. He sounded like he had already given up even though they didn't have any details.

"Come on, Jason."

Jason shot to his feet, face twisted in such anger it made Stevie step back. His hands were shaking, and while she didn't think he would hurt her she was scared he might.

"Stop it, Stevie. Mom's gone. Start accepting that fact."

"It's not a fact! You can't say that. We have to keep hoping."

"Why the hell should I? Be realistic. Mom's dead!"

"She's not dead!" Alison shouted, loud enough to startle both Stevie and Jason. "Stop saying that! She's not dead. She can't be dead!"

Tears were absolutely pouring down Alison's face. It hurt Stevie nearly as much as Jason's anger, though she could tell it wasn't impacting Jason. She was about to go to her sister and try to calm at least one sibling down – since there was no hope of that with Jason – when her father walked back into the room. He must have heard Alison's screams, or maybe the distraught look on her face had been enough, because he wrapped his arms around her. Immediately Alison shifted and buried her head against his chest.

"It's okay, Noodle. Nobody is giving up."

Henry rubbed her back as he watched his son grit his teeth and drop heavily into a chair. He knew Jason didn't want his mother to be dead. This anger was simply his response to the terror, and believing his mom was dead was his safety mechanism. It was easier for him to not have hope. There was no point trying to convince him otherwise. Jason needed to cope his own way.

"Dad?" Stevie asked timidly. "Did you hear anything?"

Henry closed his eyes and bowed his head, giving Stevie all of the answers she needed. Nothing had changed.

"The weather might be getting better," Henry eventually said.

At the time he'd been told that Henry had thought it was just to placate him. Whether it was true or not he had no idea. Now he was doing the same thing to his children that Russell had done to him: offering the thinnest strand of hope because it was all they had.

"Does that mean they're going after Mom soon?" Alison sniffled.

She looked so young as she gazed up at Henry with her head still on his chest. Henry ran his hand down her hair as he forced himself to ignore Jason's snort of derision.

"I hope so, baby."

He really did because he wasn't sure how much longer he could handle waiting without news or action.

O . o . O . o . O

It had been hours since Henry had gotten news of Elizabeth's plane crash. Far too many hours. None of them had been able to convince themselves to eat in that time. They hadn't been expecting to be able to sleep either, but eventually a mix of exhaustion and grief had overcome Jason and Alison. They were both sound asleep on the couches. Stevie had curled up in an armchair and was barely awake herself. Her cheek was resting on one palm as she stared into the room. Henry was in his own chair staring ceaselessly at the door. His mind should have been running a mile a minute, but instead it was completely blank. He'd already run though all of the scenarios and thought about what life would be like without his wife. Continuing to do so would break him. For now it was best to not think and pretend that everything was fine. It didn't totally work, but it was enough to keep him sane.

The door opened, startling Henry out of his stupor. In the next moment he was on his feet, oblivious to the fact that he was shaking. Stevie moved to his side and grabbed his arm. It comforted her and hid some of her father's trembling. Neither of them recognized the person who'd entered, but that didn't matter. If someone was there it meant there had to be news. Good news, Stevie hoped. She wasn't sure they could handle any more bad.

"Elizabeth?" Henry asked.

"We're looking right now. The storm has passed and it's light enough to search. There are search helicopters out from multiple countries."

"But you haven't found a crash site yet?"

"Not yet, but we will."

"Will you be able to tell if anyone survived?" Stevie asked.

"Hopefully any survivors will hear the choppers and come into the open. If we can we'll send people down to the site as well."

Stevie tightened her grip on her father's arm and smiled up at him. Finally they had some news. It wasn't great news, but it was some news, which was more than they'd had before. With luck they would get more information soon.

"If you find the wreck…"

Henry was barely getting the words out around the lump in his throat. There was no way to ignore the situation when it was staring him in the face. It brought back all of the terror of a life without Elizabeth.

"We will let you know immediately."

Henry breathed out a sigh of relief and closed his eyes. As he sagged Stevie wrapped her arms around him, taking some of his weight. She knew how close he was to falling apart. She'd seen his expression before when they'd gotten word Elizabeth had survived Iran. Stevie had to hope this situation would have the same positive ending. It had to because there was no way she could live without her mom. She couldn't live without her father either, and Stevie knew the loss of her mother would claim most, if not all, of her father too.

"It's going to be okay, Dad," Stevie assured him as she held him in a tight hug.

He had his head resting on her shoulder, completely hidden from view. It was possible he was crying, but Stevie couldn't tell for sure. Either way it didn't matter. They were all hurting. Crying was simply a part of that pain.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

They'd all survived the night despite the freezing temperatures. Jay was somewhat surprised. As strong as he'd tried to be, there had been moments when he'd wondered if he would be taking his last breaths on that mountain. The cold had settled in so deeply that the fear of falling asleep and never waking up had been all too real. It hadn't happened, though there were parts of his body that hadn't woken up because he definitely couldn't feel them.

Nadine, Mike, and Chris were up and moving, trying to warm up and get some blood flow back. One of them would take over for him with Elizabeth soon enough so he could try and warm up too. He looked down at the Secretary and was pleased to find her eyes open. They were dull and unfocused however. Maybe that was just the cold and early morning, but he needed to find out.

"Ma'am, how are you feeling?"

She didn't seem to register his question, so he gently shook her shoulder. That did the trick, and her eyes shifted to him. Jay tried not to let the blankness in them worry him too much.

"Ma'am?"

"Henry?"

Immediately his heart dropped and his hope was nearly shattered. If she didn't recognize him then there was no question she had a head injury. Worse yet, that injury was progressing because she'd known him yesterday.

"No, Ma'am," he replied in the most level voice he could manage. "It's Jay."

"Jay…"

She was merely repeating the name. Either it meant nothing at all to her or she couldn't place it. Neither one was particularly good.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Jay…"

Her forehead wrinkled slightly as she pondered the name. When her face cleared Jay held his breath. Maybe she did remember him after all.

"You teach business stuff…"

"I…?" Once again Jay's heart dropped out of his chest and he couldn't breathe. "No, Ma'am. I'm your assistant."

"Right…" Elizabeth slurred as her eyes drifted off his face and unfocused further. "My TA. Why did they give me a TA? I don't even like TAs. Want to… do my own… grading."

She trailed off and ended up staring unseeingly at the roof of the plane.

Jay shuddered. He'd thought he'd already been expecting the worst when she'd forgotten his name. Now he realized how wrong that was. Elizabeth hadn't simply forgotten a few names. She'd forgotten her entire time as Secretary of State. He didn't know what that really meant or how bad it actually was, but a few months – nearly a year – of lost memory sounded really bad to him.

"Think you can get up, Jay?"

Jay looked up at Mike and gaped at him. He was still in so much shock over what he had just discovered that he wasn't processing anything. Mike knelt down next to him, clearly worried.

"I know you're probably in a lot of pain, Jay, but getting up and moving will keep you warm."

Mike was clearly worried about the wrong person though. Jay needed to make it clear that he wasn't the one to be concerned about, but exactly how to do that failed him. The words that came out of his mouth first wouldn't reassure anyone.

"Right. I know. I just…" He glanced down at Elizabeth and back up at Mike. "She doesn't remember anything. Thinks she's still teaching at UVA."

Mike's expression instantly became guarded. He shouldn't have even bothered though. Jay knew that a purposefully neutral expression never meant anything good.

"Chris can stay with her. You go walk around. Try and get warmed up."

Mike squeezed Jay's shoulder and turned away. He was going to get Nadine and start working on ways to make their location visible. Rescue was the only option for all of them, but the longer rescue took the less chance Elizabeth had. It was even possible that they were already too late. She wasn't gone yet though, so Mike wasn't giving up. It was his job to protect the Secretary and keep her alive. The only way to do that now was to create visibility so whatever help was coming could spot them.

"Nadine. Come with me."

She looked at him questioningly for a moment and then did what he'd asked. It didn't take long for her to pick up on the fact that something was wrong. She might have been out of her depth in this situation, but she could still read people.

"What is it?" she asked once they were out of earshot of the others.

"The Secretary may not last much longer. We need to be found. Soon."

Nadine carefully shut away every emotion she felt after the first statement and concentrated on the second one. She had to remain focused and professional regardless of what she felt if they were going to get anywhere.

"I know, but I can't just miraculously do that."

"I know. We have no radio contact, so the only thing we can do is make ourselves more visible. Find anything bright colored. Something big enough to see from the air and that won't look like the surrounding mountain."

"Something to draw attention."

"Exactly. It's our best chance."

Nadine nodded. She wasn't sure what they would find in the torn apart body of the plane, but she would dig around. Maybe Chris would know if there were some bright orange life jackets hidden somewhere on the plane.

It turned out there were life jackets on board, and the yellow should be pretty visible. The problem was there weren't many and they were small. With everyone's help they were able to drag out all of the tables and chairs that had been sheared off the floor during the crash. Mike got them lined up in a row in the open, and Nadine spread the life jackets on top and tied them down. It was the best they could do. Hopefully it would be enough. For all of their sakes, especially Elizabeth's. Unfortunately she wasn't the only one that was looking worse.

"Jay. Jay?"

Jay stumbled to a stop and glanced at Nadine. His face was grey, and he looked like he was barely staying on his feet.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine. I'm just cold."

It was a total lie though. His arm was absolutely screaming. The level of pain was making it nearly impossible to function, but he was doing the best he could.

Nadine watched him for a moment and then simply accepted his answer. The cold, exhaustion, and hunger weren't leaving Nadine at her best either.

"Go sit with Elizabeth and keep each other warm. We'll join you in a minute."

There was no point in arguing, especially since he knew he wouldn't be much help anywhere else. Jay staggered over to where Elizabeth was resting and slid down to the floor as carefully as he could. Elizabeth's eyes were closed again and there was a blue tint to her skin. The best option would be to hold her and share what little body heat he had. To do that he was going to need two hands. Despite the pain in his arm, Jay braced himself and gathered Elizabeth against his chest. He nearly blacked out in the process and was left gasping for breath.

It took a long time for the pain to die down enough for him to open his eyes and start breathing normally. In an attempt to ignore the pain he focused on Elizabeth. What he found was not good. The movement hadn't roused her at all.

"Elizabeth? Come on, Ma'am. You need to wake up."

Jay rubbed her cheek until her eyes slowly slid open. That didn't last very long before they fluttered shut again. While Jay kept trying he was getting a smaller and smaller response every time.

"Mike, she's fading."

Elizabeth's one remaining security member knelt down in front of her and Jay. His fingers immediately went to Elizabeth's pulse.

"Has she woken at all?"

"A few times. Not for very long."

Mike nodded as he took a look at the makeshift bandage around her head. It didn't look much worse than it had last night.

"Keep trying every so often, Jay. Make sure that she'll still wake up, even if it's not for very long. I want to know if she slips into a coma. Not that there's anything we can do if she does."

Elizabeth could easily be bleeding into her brain, and a hematoma was not something he could treat. The best he could do was let the rescuers know it was happening, if they ever came. He was trying to ignore the fact that if she slid into a coma, proving the hematoma theory, then it was probably already too late to save her.

"How bad?" Nadine asked as Mike walked away.

When he looked back to where Jay and Elizabeth were sitting his face gave him away. In that moment she knew they couldn't keep denying what was happening. Elizabeth was in a lot of trouble.

"She's dying, isn't she?"

"She'll be fine."

"Don't lie to me, Mike. I can read you too well. Give it to me straight. Is she dying?"

"If this is what I think it is…" He hesitated and forced himself to continue. "… then yes, she's probably dying. We need to get her to a hospital soon. Now preferably."

Which was something they couldn't do. Nadine didn't need him to say that.

"Start praying."

Mike nodded solemnly. That was really the only thing they could do.


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's Note: In honor of the season premiere and to make up for the fact that they aren't airing a new episode next week (really though, who's dumb idea was that? Why would you premiere a show and then not run it the next week?) I figured I'd give you the next chapter! Totally amazing news, yes, but it comes with some sad news too. Only one more chapter left after this. Do enjoy it._

* * *

Chapter Eight

The mountain had been silent since the crash, so even distant noise drew the survivors' attention. At first the whooping was so quiet that Nadine couldn't place the sound. As it grew louder her eyes widened.

"Mike! Mike!"

Nadine shook him until he blinked groggily at her.

"Is that what I think it is?" she asked.

It took Mike longer to process what she was asking than Nadine would have liked. Thankfully the noise was still there when Mike fully woke up.

"A helicopter."

Nadine hadn't wanted to get her hopes up when she hadn't been sure, but Mike's confirmation was enough. Hope raced through her. They might be getting out!

"Let's go then!"

She was on her feet before Mike could respond and already out of the plane by the time he had gotten up. They needed to flag the chopper down before it left the area. Mike, and likely Chris as well, would join her soon. Three of them would have more luck than just one.

As Nadine stepped into the open she immediately began waving her arms. She couldn't see the helicopter, but she could still hear it so it had to be out there somewhere. By the time Mike and Chris joined her she still hadn't spotted the chopper.

"Jay's trying to wake the Secretary," Mike explained. "Have you found the chopper?"

"No, but it has to be nearby."

The words had barely left her mouth when she spotted the helicopter off to her left. Her heart skipped a beat, and she began screaming and waving her arms. The others began doing the same thing even though they all knew nobody in the chopper could hear them. Excitement over the thought of being rescued was driving all of them. They weren't thinking about anything but getting noticed.

"It's turning! It's turning! They see us. Oh thank God," Nadine exclaimed. "I'm going to go tell Jay."

She stumbled through the snow back to the plane. For as excited as she was though, Jay was the complete opposite. From the look of him Nadine would have thought he'd been given a death sentence. Then she realized it might not be Jay. That realization was like the ground falling out beneath her. They couldn't have lost Elizabeth when they were on the verge of being rescued. It wasn't possible. Even fate couldn't be that cruel.

"Jay?"

"I'm getting nothing, Nadine. No response from her at all."

Nadine's eyes closed briefly and she took a deep breath. At least for the moment Elizabeth was still alive.

"You did what you could, Jay. Rescue is here. She's going to get help."

Hopefully it would be in time, but Nadine just didn't know. It would be a hard blow if they managed to get rescued but still lost Elizabeth. An even harder blow would be facing Henry afterward.

O . o . O . o . O

The door banged open with so much force that it startled everyone inside. Jason jumped so badly he fell off the couch and had to scramble back to his feet. The rest of the family was already standing and looking intently at Russell. Jason slid in next to his father, and Henry wrapped his free arm around his son so he was holding both of his youngest children. None of them could breathe. While it didn't look like Russell was bringing bad news, nobody was willing to trust that. They needed to know for sure before they could calm down.

"We found them. A French search unit is hovering over the crash site now. Our military rescue team will get them out and bring any survivors to our military hospital in Germany."

"How many survivors?" Henry asked.

"Three at least."

Henry opened his mouth, but Russell held up his hand to stop him.

"We don't know if any of them are Elizabeth," Russell added.

Henry closed his eyes and felt hope drain away. They were getting survivors to the hospital, but those survivors might not include Elizabeth.

"Is mom alive?" Alison asked as she turned to look up at him.

"We don't know, baby," Henry told her weakly before kissing the top of her head.

Jason pulled away from them and headed back to the couch. He didn't want to face any more pain. It was easier to stay on the outside.

Henry tried not to wince as his son walked away. He knew how hard this was, so he couldn't complain about his son making it worse. Jason was likely coping the best that he could. A part of Henry was reminding him that it wasn't the best idea to get his hopes up too high. They still didn't know anything, and a second crash of reality would be harder to bear than the first. Jason was probably acting the way he was for that very reason.

"How long until we know?"

Henry's voice sounded so dead that it deflated even Russell's enthusiasm. He rebounded quickly enough though. To him the news was fantastic even though they didn't know Elizabeth's fate.

"Soon, I hope. The mission may already be underway. I should get back to the situation room. When I hear something, I will let you know."

"Go. Bring her home, Russell."

It was the only thing Henry could say even though he didn't know if his wife was even alive.

Russell nodded and left the room. As the door closed he could hear the silence that he was sure would continue to reign in the room.

The same couldn't be said of the situation room. As Russell stepped inside he was met with a wall of chatter. Conrad waved him over.

"Our rescue crew is on site. They are still trying to figure out if they can land."

"Why couldn't they?" Russell asked.

"The slope might be too steep. They haven't found a place where they can safely put down," Reeves explained.

"And the ground is completely covered in ice," Conrad added.

"What happens if they can't land?"

"We'll airlift them out one by one."

Russell nodded and turned his attention to the screen. When he saw what was left of the plane he had to wonder how anyone could have survived. If a plane that big had been split in two the impact must have been immense. The thought of the crash alone left a sour taste in his mouth. He couldn't begin to imagine what it would have been like to live through it. The helicopter was circling the wreckage of the plane, apparently still assessing the location. No one was visible on the ground, so Russell had to trust they were waiting in the body of the wreck away from the swirling winds and snow.

The mic in the room crackled, silencing everyone.

 _"We aren't going to be able to land. Proceeding with rescue by airlift."_

They didn't have to wait very long to see a descent from a member of the rescue team. He was mostly to the ground when there was movement from the plane. Mike stepped into the open, shielding his face from the wind whipped snows.

"Reeves, make sure they find out who survived," Conrad stated.

General Reeves nodded and passed word along. They could all see the discussion taking place on the ground and waited anxiously for news. Finally it came.

 _"Five survived the initial crash. Christoff, McCord, Monroe, Tolliver, Wittman."_

The whole room breathed out a sigh of relief. Despite the fact that so many lives had been lost, with a crash that severe five survivors was better than they could have hoped, especially given the fact that the Secretary of State was one of them. They had to be happy for the few they had.

Grinning ear to ear, Conrad turned to Russell.

"Let the McCords know, and let's get them on a plane. I want you to go with them."

"Yes, sir, Mr. President."

"Ellen, get that set up."

"Yes, sir."

She followed Russell out of the room, already on the phone to set up a flight and security detail. As they left Conrad turned back to the rescue mission.

"Injuries?"

"Wittman and McCord are the most severely injured. There seems to be some concern about the Secretary," Reeves answered.

That sent an uneasy shiver through the room. Conrad had to force himself not to physically respond to that.

"Let's get them home then."

O . o . O . o . O

"Let's get you all home."

Mike nodded and glanced back toward the plane. Getting four of the five of them out would be easy, even with Jay's broken arm. Moving Elizabeth would be difficult, especially since nobody wanted to cause her further injury.

"The Secretary's not going to be able to get out on her own!" Mike yelled over the noise of the copter.

"We'll get her out."

"She'll need medical."

"Military hospital in Germany is on standby."

Immediately Mike was shaking his head. He may not have known exactly where they'd crashed, but he knew it couldn't be Germany. They were already running out of time. Waiting to fly to a US run hospital wasn't going to be good enough.

"Head injury! She needs the closest one!"

He could see that news set in as their rescuer's eyes flickered. It didn't last long before focus set in again. There was work to be done.

"I'll call up for a basket while we get one of you out of here."

Nodding once more, Mike staggered back toward the plane to get the others. They were still gathered around Elizabeth but looked up when he stepped in. Instead of being ecstatic, the mood of the group was rather subdued given the Secretary's condition.

"Jay, you're first."

Jay looked like he had been slapped. If anyone should be going first it should be the Secretary. Her life was in danger, and she was far more important than him.

"The Secretary should be first."

"They're working on that. In the meantime, let's go."

There was no point arguing further, and Jay knew it. He pushed himself to his feet, wincing as he did. Any movement was now sending waves of agony through his arm and ribs. Mike moved to Jay's side, knowing he would need help making it through the snow and wind.

They managed to strap Jay in and get him up into the helicopter safely. The rescue basket came down after that, and the process of getting Elizabeth off the mountain began. Together Mike and the rescue squad member carried the backboard into the wreckage. As they walked in Nadine met Mike's eyes and subtly shook her head. There had been no responsiveness from Elizabeth at all. Once they knelt next to her Mike checked her pulse and was pleased to find he could still feel it despite frozen fingers. It was still steady.

While Elizabeth was being carefully strapped to the backboard and loaded up for evac the crew in the air was in contact with nearby hospitals. If the Secretary's condition was as bad as they were being told, whatever hospital they were heading for needed to be ready. Nobody knew how much time was left on the clock.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

There was so much chatter from the McCord family that Russell Jackson wanted to throw all of them off the plane. While he understood their excitement, it was getting rather annoying. None of them had shut up since he'd walked into the room at the White House to inform them Elizabeth's rescue was in progress.

"But Mom's alive, so you were totally wrong," Alison argued.

"Being alive and being alive for now are different things," Jason retorted.

"Well, I believe in Mom and I know she's going to be okay."

Jason was still going with the cynical view he considered safer since they hadn't heard any details about their mom's condition and was about to argue further. Russell slammed his hand down on the table and turned to glare at the family.

"I get it. The Secretary survived. Hurray. Now will you stop celebrating so I can get some work done?"

Alison was the only member of the family that looked chastised. Jason simply rolled his eyes, and Stevie watched Russell calmly. She'd had enough experience facing down her mother's looks to easily face Russell's. Stevie was about to try and shut Russell down herself when Henry stepped in.

"Alright, guys, let's try and tone it down a little."

It was Stevie's turn to roll her eyes, but she did settle back in her chair without argument. Russell nodded to Henry after silence filled the cabin. Henry smiled softly. Given Russell was getting the whole family to Elizabeth, Henry was more than happy to do what he asked.

The silence didn't last very long though. After hours of wondering if their mother was dead, the excitement of knowing she was alive was too much. Chatter and laughter began filling the cabin again. Russell was considering whether he should bother shutting them down a second time when the in-flight phone rang. The kids didn't pay any attention as Russell headed across the cabin to the phone, but Henry was watching his every move. A phone call mid-flight could only be about serious news related to the rescue. The look on Russell's face drew Henry out of his seat. Moving as calmly as he could so he wouldn't alert his children, Henry headed for Russell. He didn't even need to ask.

"Change of plans," Russell explained as he leaned in close to Henry. "We're detouring to a French hospital on the border. Elizabeth's in emergency surgery there."

Henry's mind stumbled over those words. He'd thought the worst of the terror was over, but he'd been wrong. Getting Elizabeth back and then losing her would be too much.

"Emergency surgery?"

"Brain surgery apparently. I have to go let our pilot know."

He brushed past Henry, leaving him to process on his own. Russell had said brain surgery so nonchalantly, but it sounded like a huge deal to Henry. How it couldn't be a big deal, he didn't know. Anything could go wrong when someone messed around in the brain. There was nothing he could do for her though, and he couldn't get to her any faster. All he could do now was pray she'd survive the surgery and maybe hope she was already in recovery when they arrived. It would be easier that way.

Henry took a moment to school his expression before he headed back to his children. It was good enough to get past Alison and Jason, but Stevie was too perceptive. Thankfully she knew the importance of being subtle to protect her siblings. She shifted over to sit down next to her father.

"What's going on?" she asked quietly as she kept a close eye on her siblings.

Henry and Elizabeth had long ago stopped hiding or sugar coating situations with Stevie, and there was no point in starting again now. She was old enough. More importantly, she'd proved her worth so far.

"Mom's in surgery at a different hospital. We're going there instead."

Stevie considered that but didn't understand what was making her father so nervous. Surgery wasn't great news, but it didn't necessarily mean her mom had a life threatening injury.

"Dad?"

Henry's jaw clenched, and it was clear he was fighting not to cry. It absolutely shocked Stevie. She knew then that something was definitely wrong. Whatever surgery her mom was facing, it wasn't minor.

"Why don't you take a break, Dad? Mom's going to be okay. She's going to be okay."

Henry nodded to his oldest daughter and once again left her in charge. If everything went south she might never be stepping down from that role.

O . o . O . o . O

The noise in the hospital room was the exact opposite of what it had been on the plane. They had more people in the room than they should have thanks to Russell pulling some strings, but even so it was near silent. Henry almost wished Russell hadn't pulled those strings. His children had gotten an eyeful already. Even unconscious Elizabeth was a scary sight. Her head was bound in thick white bandages from the surgery, which was the worst part, but she had other minor injuries too. The cold had left a mark. Her face had red splotches still, and her fingers were wrapped due to frostbite. While it wasn't visible, she had also suffered broken ribs. Physically she was a mess. Mentally there were questions too. Elizabeth had regained consciousness three times since they'd arrived, but true consciousness might have been a stretch. She hadn't been aware any time. That was the biggest cause of Henry's questions about having his children in the room. Even though he'd been expecting some mental instability from Elizabeth, what he'd seen had unsettled him. There was no doubt it had unsettled his children. Henry couldn't have kept them away though. They wanted to be with their mother, and they were all keeping their hopes up.

The truth was they'd been lucky. Those words didn't even cover it really. All of the bad luck in the world must have been used up when the plane's engine had failed and it had crashed because fate or luck or whatever had been shining on Elizabeth since then. The brain bleed had been small. Even so, she'd gotten into surgery just in time. Hopefully that luck was still with her and she would recover fully.

Henry ran his thumb along Elizabeth's arm and watched her closely. For as sick as she looked, there was some peace in her face too.

"I still don't understand why we can't use our phones," Jason moaned.

"Because we're in the ICU, nerd," Stevie explained again.

They'd been over this more than once already, so Jason saw no point in continuing to argue. Besides, it wasn't like he didn't understand the reason. He did. He just didn't like it.

"Why do you want to use your phone so badly anyway?" Alison asked.

"Research."

Jason had bowed his head and mumbled the answer, not wanting to reveal how worried he actually was. There was no point in trying to hide it though. His siblings already knew. Stevie reached over and rubbed Jason's back.

"It's probably better you can't. It might scare you."

"Yeah, because that's more reassuring than anything I would find."

"That statistics probably aren't, but would you ever bet against Mom?"

Jason snorted. It was one of the stupidest questions he'd ever heard.

"Yeah right. That's just asking to lose."

Stevie grinned. She'd known that would be his answer. Like he'd said, it couldn't possibly be anything else.

"See? You're just going to have to trust that."

That drew a tiny smile from Henry. Stevie had been fantastic so far. She was keeping her siblings' spirits up as much as possible and hadn't given up once.

When Henry turned back to his wife he found her watching him. Immediately his heart soared. Her eyes were clear, though tired. That didn't mean she would have mental clarity though. He wanted to hope, but she was still just staring at him in silence.

"Babe?"

"I'm dreaming, aren't I? Have to be…"

The smile that split Henry's face actually hurt. That was the clearest part of a conversation he'd heard from her. Maybe, just maybe, she was going to come out of this accident alright.

"You aren't dreaming, babe. We're right here."

"We…"

She started to turn her head to see who "we" was, but Henry stopped her.

"Don't move your head."

"Why?"

That thought was quickly discarded as she saw her children gather nearby. They were grinning at her and nearly lit up in their excitement.

"Hey… my babies."

"Mom!"

"You're okay!"

They were so excited to see their mom awake and coherent that they forgot they were in the ICU and that Elizabeth had just had brain surgery. As fantastic as this was, they were going to need to reel in their excitement a bit. If they didn't their mother would be the one to pay for it.

"Easy guys," Henry warned.

They immediately lowered their voices, remembering once more that their mom had a head injury. The need to be quiet didn't dampen their happiness whatsoever. All three kids were beaming, though Alison was crying too. Now that Elizabeth was awake all of the kids' concerns had gone out the window.

"Thank goodness you're okay," Alison sniffled.

"I'm okay, baby."

Elizabeth tried to reach out and brush her daughter's tears away, but it was too hard. She only had the energy to get her fingers off the bed. Jason, surprisingly, was the only one to notice. He lifted his mother's hand off the bed and cradled it gently between his own.

"You aren't in pain?"

"No, Noodle."

Pain definitely wasn't a problem. The medication was handling that very well, but it was making her even more tired and muddled than she already was.

"Babe?"

Elizabeth took a long time to respond to Henry. She didn't want to take her eyes off her children, but eventually she pulled them away. As much as she loved looking at her children, it didn't take long for her to get sucked into Henry's eyes. Her husband could make everything better. When he stroked his thumb along her cheek, her eyes fluttered closed. It wasn't the best move if Henry wanted to talk to her.

"Babe."

"Hmm."

"Come on, babe."

Slowly her eyes opened and focused on him again. Henry could tell she was fading. Before long the medication would win and she would fall back asleep.

"What do you remember, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth's forehead wrinkled as she considered that. Most of what she remembered was fuzzy at best. It all had such a dream-like quality that she really wasn't sure what was real and what wasn't.

"It's alright, babe," Henry assured, assuming she didn't remember anything and was frustrated by it. "Not remembering anything is normal after what you've been though."

"No… I remember some." Not very much, but at least enough for an answer. "Cold, pain, someone singing…"

A smile flickered across Elizabeth's face as she met Henry's eyes.

"The singing could… all be in my head… though."

She was drifting away so fast that she couldn't even get the words out all in one go. Henry laughed softly and kissed her forehead with a feather light touch.

"Don't worry about it. You just get some rest so you can heal."

"Don't… go."

"Not going anywhere. Now sleep."

He hadn't even finished the sentence before Elizabeth's eyes had closed and she'd settled into sleep. It was a sleep she would definitely wake up from. Once she did they would know more about the repercussions of Elizabeth's injuries. Whatever they were though, Henry knew she would find a way to overcome them. That was just what Elizabeth did. Very few things out there could beat his wife, and this definitely wasn't one of them.

"Dad?" Alison asked. "Mom's going to be okay, right?"

Henry beamed and this time was able to answer Alison with complete confidence.

"Yes, baby. She's going to be okay."

It might take some time to recover completely, but she would come back better than ever. Her family and her country needed her. Elizabeth wasn't going to let them down.


End file.
